Glasses Buddies
by imafangirlforever
Summary: She didn't know what to think of him. One moment he could be an immature idiot, the next she felt like he might actually be her friend. Ruri x Shuu
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** ** Hi, and thanks for checking out my story! I feel so guilty right now while I have so many ongoing stuff to do, but I already typed this up, so I decided to publish it. This will probably be a one or two-shot.**

**Disclaimer: You are reading a fanfiction. Repeat, _fan_fiction. It implies you and I are fans. And if we are fans, we know I do not own Nisekoi.**

* * *

Ruri didn't understand him. Why couldn't he leave her alone like all the other boys in their class did? She had told him so, once. Instead of melting under her glare, as everybody (minus Kosaki) did, he just laughed and teased her about her glasses. He and her were often the most perceptive of their little group of friends, although she couldn't understand how he could be so lighthearted and still be mature (at least, Kosaki claimed he was mature. Ruri didn't think so).

Kosaki Onodera, her best friend. Her mouth twitched slightly, almost forming a smile as she thought about her kind friend. Kosaki had introduced her to a world of bliss and happiness that only friendship could give. No one had noticed her smile, and she quickly rearranged her expression into her usual poker-face.

It was too late, she realized as she saw a certain boy watching her.

"Oh, and so my Ruri-chan is _smiling_?" he grinned lazily as others inched away from the scene slowly to not be caught in the coming storm, ignoring her growing impatience.

"I am not," she said shortly, staring at him, slightly perplexed.

Yes, Shuu Maiko was definitely a weird boy.

"Why are you smiling? Come on, tell me! We're Glasses Buddies, right?"

She ignored him, instead facing forward looking at the front of the classroom.

"Ruri-chan!"

She was tempted to kick him in the face, but resisted the temptation. No matter how many times she would kick him, he would always get up again.

It was slightly annoying, how persistent he was. But in a way... it was sort of admirable. Not like she would ever say that out loud.

"Ruuuurri-chan," he whined. "Talk to me."

"Shut up, Maiko," she snapped, her temper flaring.

He brightened, "She _responded_! Hey, Raku! She responded!"

"And what did she say, exactly?" Raku sighed exasperatedly; his gaze still on her short-haired best friend who she knew returned his crush.

"… for me to shut up," he said, sounding almost dejected. But then, his happy-go-lucky smile returned and the bell rang, signaling for class to start.

Ruri almost sighed in relief, but knew her silence would be short-lived. Instead of dwelling on the subject, she pulled out her notebook and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

Keyword: _tried_.

The annoying boy just simply _wouldn't_ give up, and he continued to throw a series of notes and paper-airplanes at her, all the while still smiling and paying attention to the teacher.

"Maiko," she said dangerously, craning her head so she could glare at the boy, "Stop that now."

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, giving her a (fake) sweet smile.

The teacher, Kyoko-sensei, noticed their actions. "Ah, young love," she said dreamily, starting to reminisce about her 'younger' days.

"It's not like that, sensei!" they spoke unanimously denying her (indirect) accusation, jumping out of their chairs. She suddenly felt ashamed at her sudden outburst, and quickly sat down. Ruri's gaze settled on Shuu for a second, and she was perplexed at what she saw. Shuu's eyes filled with… remorse? Jealousy? Sadness?

As always, she couldn't tell.

"Maiko, sit down," she told him.

"Hmm?" he glanced down at her, and complied.

His gaze never left Kyoko-sensei.

* * *

Something was up. Ruri knew that as soon as she heard Kyoko-sensei was moving. She had seen that brief moment of panic Shuu had displayed before disguising it as a brilliant smile. He was chatting with Raku as Ruri was leaning on her desk, watching him.

He loved her, she realized. But he couldn't do anything about it now.

When he had told her of his "silly" crush, she had dismissed it as another attempt to make her feel sorry for him.

But his feelings were real.

He shouldn't be bottling up his feelings like that. Ruri knew that nothing good ever happened from keeping feelings hidden. The bottle would burst, and the feelings would come rushing out.

She quickly frowned when she realized she was worried about him. Her, _Ruri, _worried? She wanted to laugh at her stupidity. Of _course_ Shuu loved Kyoko-sensei. Who was she to judge? Maybe he didn't return her feelings-

She paused. Her feelings?

What were her feelings for Shuu?

She bit her lip, frustrated. He was hot-headed, perverted, and an idiot… but he had his nice moments. He was quite observant, and could be surprisingly mature when he wanted to. He was… alright.

They locked eyes for a moment, and she felt heat rush to her cheeks and quickly turned away.

Ruri wanted to bang her head on a wall. What was she thinking? Why was she being so... _different_?

It was his fault.

* * *

Ruri sighed and shook her head. She had a headache. Today was Kyoko-sensei's last day at school. She felt a little remorse at the thought. She was a good teacher, and it was a shame marriage had to end her career like that.

She imagined Kyoko-sensei in a beautiful white, fancy wedding dress. For a moment, Ruri thought of herself in a wedding dress. She, like all girls, thought that wedding dresses were beautiful.

She suddenly blushed and quickly shook her head, as if to dispel the thought. She glanced over to Shuu for a moment, and quickly averted her gaze as Shuu turned to look at her, looking like a slightly confused puppy.

She instead turned her cool gaze to Raku and Kosaki, who were both chatting amicably.

Some people might have thought that she was cold-hearted, but Ruri just more laid-back than others, always going at her own pace. She always kept her emotions in check, to make sure not to bother anyone.

Sometimes it felt like she was in a different world from all the rest of her classmates. It felt that, although she was surrounded by people, she was alone. Ruri had always been content with her little world, but things slowly progressed…

… and she realized that she probably couldn't go back to the way things were before Kosaki came. No, that was wrong. She didn't _want_ it to go back that way.

Yet, she reflected, it seemed as if Shuu was in the same situation as well. As different as they acted, they both understood each other perfectly.

It was at these moments Ruri felt the most vulnerable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fanfictions are for fans. Do not own.**

* * *

He wasn't in class.

Ruri was pretty sure she wasn't the only one to notice, but no one mentioned anything about it.

She had taken it upon herself to do the duty of delivering paperwork to the teacher's lounge alone, even though he _was_ supposed to be helping her. From outside of the window, she could see her classmates holding a banner saying "**GOODBYE, KYOKO-SENSEI**" as they waved cheerfully at their departing teacher. The black-haired woman smiled, holding the large bouquet of flowers given to her tightly.

Ruri turned away, instead focusing on the problem at hand.

Where _was_ Shuu Maiko?

* * *

Shuu leaned against the fenced wall of the roof, letting out a sigh.

Behind him, the sound of a door opening and shutting sounded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his childhood friend, Raku, walk towards him with a troubled expression on his face.

He plastered on a grin, turning around to fully face his friend. "Yo, Raku! Is something up? It's rare to see you ditching class as well!"

Shuu continued rambling. "Well, doing stuff like this is good once in a while, right? But seeing how you ditched clas, you brought a game with you, didn't you? Let's play mohun, let's play!"

Raku just stared at him with the same blank expression, and Shuu felt his mask slowly crumbling.

"Looks like you're having a rough time."

His friend said it as a statement. Not a question, just a statement. Shuu felt his shoulders sag, and he nearly chuckled. Raku always knew when he was feeling down. It was just one of those things that came in a package of being best friends.

"...does it look that way?"

"Yeah."

"I see." He stared at the floor. Was he _that_ off?

Raku stared at his friend, then averted his gaze as he said, "Shuu."

This caught his attention.

"I'm going to say something a bit unnecessary right now. It's as you say, I might be a dense person. I won't understand someone's feelings unless they explicitly tell me."

Where exactly was he going with this?

"I think what you're doing is correct," Raku admitted. "It's a mature decision made with the other person in mind. But I think that you should be doing what you really want to do. I'll support you. If you're not going to do anything, then I'll support you not doing anything. But if it's necessary, I'll even push you from behind."

He couldn't possibly know how much those words impacted him.

"From behind? What are you going to push me for, Raku? I'm in the middle of the grand unveiling of my broken heart. What are you telling me to do about this love that's been over for a while now?" Shuu lied, keeping a smile on his face as he nonchalantly held out his hand in a relaxed matter. His smile faded, just a little bit. "It's fine. I don't have a single regret."

Or did he?

"I'm pretty sure even the most thickheaded person could tell that's a lie."

Shuu froze, his mind swarming. Since when was Raku able to read him like this? Since when...

_"You seem a lot more mature than the others." A smile, the smile that he had grown to fall in love with. "Don't let your youth go to waste, alright?"_

Slowly, a smile grew on his face.

Shuu knew what he had to do next.

* * *

_That damn glasses. Where'd he go, ditching class duty?_ Ruri seethed.

_But... it is rare. Until now, he's never ditched class before._

She refused to let the worry show on her face, instead looking at her pile of papers she was holding. Something caught her eye from the end of the hallway. It was Maiko, looking even _more_ idiotic than he usually did, if that was even possible. Ruri prepared herself to give a great scolding to the boy. "Ah, hey Maiko-kun. You're duties today..."

He zoomed passed her. Her eyes widened, and she turned around, staring at the disappearing figure.

_Was that...really Maiko-kun just now?_

She made a split-second decision. "Hold these." She practically threw the papers at one of the boys in the hallways, and ran the direction Maiko was going to. Where exactly would he want to-

She nearly slapped her head. Of _course_. Kyoko-sensei. She should have known.

Even so, she couldn't help but grab an umbrella and walk outside of the school. She opened the red umbrella and put it over her head as she walked near the intersection where Kyoko-sensei was leaving.

...Maiko?

She observed the scene as a mere passerby, not daring to get closer. Maiko was standing in front of Kyoko-sensei's window, and she smiled, whispering something to him. Ruri felt her chest clench slightly, but ignored the feeling as she continued watching. Kyoko-sensei whispered one final thing to him before the car drove away.

Maiko kept standing in the rain.

Ruri started forward, about to hit him with her umbrella and tell him how _stupid_ he was not to tell her his feelings, when Kosaki stopped her. _Kosaki _of all people.

"Ruri-chan," she whispered, shaking her head.

The rain was starting to clear up, and Ruri decided to leave Maiko alone. For now.

"Come on, Kosaki. Let's go." She turned away.

* * *

**A/N: I was supremely happy to find this story had 5 reviews. You people are amazing. No, seriously. So I decided to continue this and stuff. If you want to know where this came from, it was chapter 85. I put a LOT more canon stuff in there. But next chapter will probably not be as canon. So..yeah. Thank you so much!**


	3. Chapter 3

Ruri had always been an efficient girl. All of her senseis told her she had lots of potential. And she knew that. With the right motivation, she could be successful in life. The only real problem with that was...well, she didn't have much motivation. She did what she liked, and what she felt was in the best interest of her friends (mainly Kosaki, although she still cared about the rest of the lot as well).

Today she was soaking wet, pulling her goggles off her head as she climbed out of the pool using the heavy metal ladder as her support. She had always liked swimming, it once she heard it was good for her health, she joined the swimming.

Swimming was always just a hobby to her.

That was probably why she didn't care much about winning or losing. This laid-back attitude was quite a contrast to her peers, and as she stepped out of the water she heard her peers excitedly chatting about how they 'would do their best to get to the nationals!'

She ignored them, as she usually did. But Ruri couldn't help but turn her head to look at the giant poster Kosaki had made with Haru.

_Aim for the nationals!_

She sighed. Swimming competitions had never been her forte. Too much nervous excitement, giggling girls, and people who were only there to win. But...she supposed it was a sufficient enough goal for now.

* * *

Ruri couldn't help but feel just a _tiny_ bit tense as she stood in front of the vast blue pool surrounded by bleachers. People were everywhere. Swimmers were either stretching, talking, or being massaged as they prepared for their races. Some gathered at the papers on the wall that showed their heats. She had already checked that before, after all, it was always best to be prepared.

All of her friends gathered around her, and her eyebrow twitched. She had only mentioned the swimming competition as a passing remark, but Kirisaki managed to pressure more out of her while Kosaki gave her an adorable puppy-eyed look. So of _course_ she broke and told them everything, and in the end the pair invited everyone to come.

Everyone, as in Ichijo, Tachibana, Seishiro, and _Maiko_.

And they were all now here. To watch her every move and potential failure. Well, she knew most of the girls would be too nice to do that, but she knew Maiko definitely would.

"Ehehehe, we came." Kosaki laughed, trying to lighten the mood as Ruri stared at her friends.

"I told you I didn't need any cheering," she sighed.

"But you get to go to the nationals if you win here, right? Isn't it obvious we'd cheer for you?"

"I don't really..." she started before being interrupted by everyone else.

"Look! We were up all night making this!" Kirisaki cheered, her red ribbon bouncing slightly as she held up a giant banner with Seishiro.

"Please do your best, Miyamoto-sama!" Seishiro added.

"...I appreciate your enthusiasm." _But that isn't really necessary_, she added in her mind.

"I just came here to be with Raku-sama. I'll still be cheering for you, though," Tachibana said, not minding the bluntness or rudeness of her comment as she snuggled close to her crush. Raku gulped, trying to get the red-head off of him as he shot her a small smile.

"Thank you." How else was she supposed to respond to that? She turned to the only other person who hadn't spoken. "So? Why are you here as well?"

"Well, it's my dear little Ruri-chan after all~!"

"Go home," she deadpanned.

"Anyway, Kosaki, are you sure you have the leisure to be cheering for someone? After all, don't you have your own-" she lowered her voice to a mere whisper, "-person you want to catch the attention of?"

Kosaki was quiet for a moment, but then she smiled. "No. Today, I want to cheer you on, Ruri-chan. After all, you're always cheering _me_ on, right? I almost never get a chance to do this, so just let me be selfish, okay?"

Ruri couldn't help but let a little pink show on her cheeks as she quickly turned away. "I get it...just do what you want."

* * *

Shuu couldn't help but nod in approval at all of the swimmers as he analyzed all of them. He recognized a few right off the bat from a sports magazine one of his classmates had shared with him once. The rest he had seen through his own research, or even on TV. Ruri would have some serious competition this time around.

Not that he was worried about her. She could take care of herself, and Shuu knew that by personal experience.

He heard Raku talking with Onodera about Ruri's achievements, and couldn't help but add his own input.

"But man, this tournament...this won't be easy for her, with all these heroes gathered here." This statement caught his two friends' attention. He smirked, angling his head slightly. "Take a look over there! That girl over there is called the _Flying Fish of Ukari High School_. She's one of the favorites in this tournament."

He continued to list all of Ruri's other potential rivals. "That one over there is the _Man-Eating Shark of Otori Girls'_. She's the real deal, with several tournaments under her belt. And to top it all...she's here."

Raku turned to see a busty woman with long, flowing hair strutting across the stadium.

"The strongest competitor of this tournament! The supreme victor of the previous tournament, the _Aquatic Butterfly of Shikari Girls' Academy_, Haneko Chounouchi-sama!" He couldn't help but add, "Kuuuuuh what sexy proportions! Sports girls are good too!"

If Ruri was there at the moment, she'd probably kick him in the head. But she wasn't, and so Shuu took good advantage of the opportunity. Even so, he chuckled as he thought of the girl's enraged expressions whenever he'd say something perverted like that.

"Well...there's another celebrity here, too." Shuu grinned, thinking of his other glasses-wearing friend.

* * *

"Excuse me, are you from Bonyari High School? There's something I wish to ask of you."

Ruri turned away from her bag of supplies she was digging through, giving the woman a blank expression. The woman took it as a sign of listening and continued speaking, unaware of who exactly was in front of her.

"The swimmer known as the _Mermaid of Bonyari High School_...is she here today? During middle school, there was a swimmer named Miyamoto who smashed several tournament records. I heard she chose to attend that puny Bonyari, and I had certainly wished to meet her."

Ruri resisted the urge to facepalm. "If you're looking for Miyamoto, she's right here."

The woman froze, digesting her words. "Hm? What? _Huuh?_"

Resist the urge. Resist the urge. Ruri twitched.

"_You're_ Miyamoto? The _Mermaid_ Ruri Miyamoto? What a shabby body! What a pauper of a chest! What a thick body!" The woman gasped dramatically. "Is it perhaps you pursued swimming too far, and due to that you?!"

"You're a rude one, aren't you?" She couldn't help but let the annoyance seep into her voice as she glared at the woman. Okay, so she admitted she was slightly flat-chested compared to people like Seishiro and this woman, but she wasn't _that_ bad!

The woman stopped, realizing how she was sounding. "I apologize for losing my calm. I'm happy that we were able to meet. I am Haneko Chounouchi. They call me the _Aquatic_ _Butterfly. _I'm a bit of a celebrity."

Ruri immediately matched Haneko's nickname with the stroke she knew. "Butterfly? Then for the upcoming freestyle event, are you going to..."

"Fufufu, but of course! I will be using the front crawl!"

The black-haired girl nearly fell over, but quickly regained her posture. "Oh, I see."

She was faintly aware of the '_kyaa_'s and '_Haneko-sama~_'s echoing from the stands as Haneko turned away. "I'm glad I was able to say hello. I'm looking forward to seeing the Mermaid compete."

"You're very popular," Ruri noted.

"Fu...charisma is always something that fascinates people." Smirking a little, the woman added, "Compared to mine, your gallery seems a bit too sad."

Ruri didn't have to turn around to hear the faint cheers of her friends. "It doesn't matter. It's not like anything is different because there are people cheering you on."

"Hmph, excuses. There's a lot of power in cheers. I'll be showing you so."

* * *

_"And now, we will be starting the preliminary 400 meter freestyle. On your mark..."_

Ruri bent down in a crouching position on the white diving board, arms tense as she let her two forefingers rest on the edge of the platform. She was _not_ going to lose to that woman.

_"Get set..."_

She inhaled once, not allowing her beating heart to distract her as she waited for the final signal.

_Bang!_ A gun sounded, firing in the air.

Ruri launched off the platform and went into a diving formation. She hit the water, cold and clear. Not wasting a second, she formed her right hand into a curve and bent her elbows, using all of her strength to finish the race using the front crawl. Everything else around her seemed to disappear as she stared at the bottom of the pool while swimming. Her arms and legs moved almost automatically. _Up, down. Up, down._

She reached the end of the pool, slamming her hand into the wall to make sure the sensor caught her finish. Ruri tried to catch her breath as her head turned from side to side, seeing if anyone else finished before her.

There was one, unfortunately. And of all people, it was the woman she was talking to before, Haneko Chounouchi.

She resigned herself to climb out of the water. By the time she was out and on one knee, Haneko was standing up victoriously, hair already out of a swim cap and goggle-free.

_"Err... the results are passing through the preliminaries are Haneko Chounouchi in first place and Ruri Miyamoto in second!"_

"Looks like you're all talk, miss Mermaid. Go on, say something if you're mad." Her opponent taunted.

"I'm fine. I'm not really mad." Ruri really wasn't. As disappointing as it was not being able to shut the woman up, she didn't really care about winning or losing the competition. After all, it was just her hobby.

Haneko obviously didn't believe her. "Hmph, what a simple excuse. I wonder if you'll still say the same thing after the finals."

Getting a little cocky, wasn't she? Ruri stared at her before sighing and standing up. Haneko seemed a little disappointed in the lack of...well, disappointment in Ruri, but she quickly turned back to her mob of fans and waved at them. Her fangirls went crazy, hurting Ruri's eardrums as they screamed.

They started walking back to where they left their clothes when Ruri noticed a sports drink can lying on the floor. She shot a glance to the swimmer walking next to her, but it seemed like Haneko was too preoccupied with her fans to notice.

Should she help her? Haneko hadn't done anything to make her feel obligated to help, but not helping her would be wrong. Ruri looked back and forth from the can and Haneko.

Curse her conscience.

* * *

**A/N: Give me a hug. I love you guys. Thank you so much for reviewing~! I really didn't expect anyone to because it has been a while since I updated this fic, but I'm really happy you all took to effort to do so. Just in case you're wondering, the chapter used was Ch. 102.**

**And now for the reviews! This is for everyone who's reviewed so far:**

_**KeepLovingStars**_**: Don't sulk in a corner. If it makes you feel better, almost all of us fangirls are single. Including me. Thank you so much for reviewing!**

_**FlowersandFun**_**: Yeah, Ruri and Shuu are pretty underappreciated. There are officially 3 fanfiction on them the last time I checked, including this one. I actually do appreciate this couple more than any Raku pairing, too. You think it's realistic and grammatically correct? Aww, thanks.**

_**Punitor567: **_**Thanks for informing me on the latest chapter~! I kind of missed a bunch of chapters and had to catch up, but now I'm back to speed. I'm glad you think so highly of my writing, thank you!**

**_AniMeann44_: I support Chitoge and Raku too! Although I do wish that Chitoge had some more character development. XD Onodera's cool and all too, but she's a little too bland for me. Not like that'll stop me from writing about her, after all, Ruri is her best friend.**

**_LoveGlutton_: I'm not really sure how to reply to that. XD But yeah, the Kyoko-sensei arc is when I started to see Ruri and Shuu, so I started the story there. It's strange to have Shuu in love with her, and it's even stranger for Ruri to be in love with him. (Or is it?)**

**_LightRayPearlshipper: _And it seems like we have a Pokemon fan in our midst! (Sorry, just had to say that. I love it too.) You believe my grammar's good? Thank you! And I wouldn't say _all_ Nisekoi fanfiction have bad grammar...just some of them. Or maybe a little more.  
**

_**Hxnim Nxtra: **_**And I reply to this as: thank you thank you thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad all of you like the story.**

_**objection234:**_** I'm so grateful you like the story that much! Thanks!**

_**MysticBlackLynx: **_**Well, as you can see, the story's ongoing. It's thanks to all of your support that I continued it. So THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing!**

**And that wraps up the review-reviews. That sounds strange. Hm...**

_**Ja mata ne!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am really grateful to all of you who read this story. No, really, I am. You don't know how all your support gives me inspiration.**

**This is a filler/noncanon/special chapter I typed up for everyone while I'm typing up the main story.**

**I don't own Nisekoi.**

* * *

"Ruri-chan!" Kosaki waved at her friend excitedly. "Ruri-chan, behind you!"

Her friend turned around, and she stopped dead in her tracks. "Ruri...chan?"

"What, Kosaki?" Ruri asked, resigning herself to her inevitable doom.

"Y-your glasses! Oh gosh, did you lose them again? Break them? Leave them at home? C-come on! We still have 20 minutes before school starts; we can go run to your house and grab them." Kosaki rambled as she fiddled with her hands nervously.

"Kosaki." Ruri's blunt voice interrupted her rant. "I'm wearing _contacts_."

"A-ah, I see." She giggled nervously, observing her friend's new look. "It's just a little strange to see you without glasses."

"Oh, should I not next time?" Ruri tilted her head. The only reason she was wearing these were because she'd left her glasses case in school, and as soon as she got there she would change out of them.

"No! I-I mean...you look really pretty this way, Ruri-chan." Kosaki stammered.

_Still need more work on the stammering problem. _Ruri sighed. "Let's go then."

"S-sure!"

**O_O_O_O**

"Oh Ruuuuriiiiii-chaaaaaaaaaan~!" Shuu stretched out the last few syllables of her name. "What are you-ah, contacts? You look weird."

Ruri turned around, her eyebrow twitching. She would not kick Maiko. She would _not_ kick him even though he was _inchingclosertoherandmakinghersquirm_. She stood up, and Shuu quickly jumped back. "Hehe, you know that was a compliment, right?"

"Because _obviously_ calling me weird is a compliment, Maiko," she replied scathingly.

"Why, of course!"

Resisting the urge to facepalm (because that was just too cliche), she sat back down and waited patiently for the teacher to arrive.

**O_O_O_O**

"Ruri-chan, you look really pretty!" A red ribbon bobbed up and down.

"I suppose she is alright...but not as beautiful as me, right Raku-sama?" Tachibana flipped her red hair.

"Ojou will always be the best in my eyes, but I must say you look nice as well." Seishiro nodded her head approvingly.

"I told you that you looked nice, Ruri-chan." Her bashful friend smiled.

All of her friends—were they her friends?—surrounded her as Ruri tried to somehow sink in her chair and not be seen. She was uncomfortable being in the spotlight of attention. Ruri was just fine being the backstage person, the one that helped other people shine. She wasn't one who liked to be in the limelight.

She thanked them all several times, but it seemed like the small crowd surrounding her was _growing_ and although Ruri had never been claustrophobic, she felt herself sinking even lower in her chair as she tried to disappear. Her eyes swept over the crowd before finally giving a sigh and a weary smile to all of them. "Everyone, thank you for your compliments, but I'm afraid class is about to start."

They all quickly dispersed and went to their seats, and Ruri reveled in the short moment of peace. But then, her lips pursed and she tried to focus on the teacher's words instead of the little voice in her head.

_He wasn't in the crowd._

**O_O_O_O**

"You know, you really look different without your glasses. Why don't you wear contacts more often?" Kiraski asked, humming a tune under her breath as she walked with Ruri in the hallways.

"...I suppose it's always been more trouble than what it's worth." She shrugged. In all honesty, she'd never really thought about it. Contacts always seemed like such a hassle to her, so she never bothered.

"But you look so preeeettty~!" The girl squealed, circling around her. "I just can't get over it! Like, you look nice with glasses too, but this is just...amazing!"

"...thank you?"

"We should really have a get together, just us girls. You know?" The blonde chattered on excitedly, waving her hands in the air wildly. "That would be so much _fun_!"

"I suppose," Ruri murmured her agreement, allowing herself to smile a little bit at the girl's antics. "You are very honest, aren't you Kirisaki-san?"

"Eh?" The girl stopped, and chuckled a little. "That depends, I suppose. You're very observant, aren't you Ruri-chan? And just call me Chitoge! We're friends, right?"

Were they? Ruri mulled over the question for a moment before nodding resignedly. "Alright, Chitoge-san."

**O_O_O_O**

Ruri walked up the steps to the rooftop, intending to find a place where she wouldn't be stared at. The attention just...bothered her. She preferred peace and quiet.

It seemed like someone else had the same idea. As soon as she opened the door, she stood there, unsure of what to do. The person didn't turn around as he silently observed the sunset. _How cliche._ Ruri almost snorted. Nevertheless, words slipped out of her mouth. "Maiko."

He turned around and gave her a cheery smile. "Ah, Ruri-chan! To what do I owe the pleasure of-"

"Cut with the crap," she interrupted, eyebrows narrowing as green eyes met gold. She voiced the question that had been plaguing her mind for most of the day. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

His act dropped. "You were always very straight to the point, weren't you, Ruri-chan..." He seemed to think about her question for a minute, and then sighed while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "How do I word it...you're just not you that way, Ruri-chan. Sure, you look nice this way. But the Ruri I know is an observent, tsundere-"

She aimed for his head, but he dodged it swiftly and continued. "-glasses wearing buddy."

Trying to ignore the slight warmth in her chest because of the last comment, she maintained her stoic expression as she kicked at him again.

"That's not very nice you know~!" Shuu teased.

"..."

"...Ruri-chan?"

She turned around and started walking towards the exit of the rooftop, taking long strides. Finally, once her hand enclosed the doorknob, she looked back and said, "Thanks Maiko."

"Eh? No problem."

As she headed back to the classroom, she made a detour to the bathroom. After taking off the contacts, she slipped back on her glasses and basked in the familiar feeling of wearing them. Ruri stared in the mirror for a second at her reflection, and finally then let herself smile. "Glasses buddies, huh?"

* * *

**A/N: And...finished.**

**Thank you to _Putinor567, LightRayPearlshipper, KeepLovingStars, Hmnix Nxtra, objection234, Flowersandfun, Araka, _and _StreamMik_ for reviewing! I think I'm going to start PM-replying to reviews if possible to keep the chapters true to their word count. Also thank you to everyone else who reads this~!**_  
_

**Oh...and to anyone who celebrates it, Happy (early) Thanksgiving!**

**edit: Thanks to _Hxnim Nxtra_ who pointed some loopholes I missed.**


	5. Chapter 5

Ruri was sitting at the ramen stand, her attention solely focused on the elderly man who had just turned around to fulfill her order, as someone slid into the seat next to her and caught her attention. "Ah, Maiko…" She solemnly greeted as she turned away from his inquisitive golden eyes, finding her eyes resting on the steaming bowl of ramen placed in front of her as she rolled her sleeves up.

"How sweet of you, Ruri-chan, calling me so informally~"

"It's not meant to be taken as a gesture of affection." She said with a deadpan expression as she sighed and resisted the urge to plug her nose from his immatureness. Besides, she was only calling him by his last name anyways. She would never dare to actually call the boy anything _but_ 'Maiko'. The name 'Shuu' just didn't roll off her tongue very well, even though several times he had tried to get her to say it. She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at him. Usually when they were alone the dirty-blonde boy would act a lot more..._real_, and that was one of the things that Ruri...found tolerable about him. She pushed some of the strands of stray black hair that had fallen in front of her face back as she glanced at him. "Why are you here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? The ramen stand isn't somewhere that I'd imagine you to hang out at in your free time. Plus, I'm a regular here, so it's not uncommon to see _me_ here." He adjusted his glasses as he leaned back comfortably into his chair, letting out a sigh as he waited for her response.

"Kosaki wanted to come and eat here because 'Ichijou-kun' was always talking about how good it was at school."

"Is Onodera-chan here?" Maiko searched behind her as if the pale, timid black-haired girl was simply hiding behind Ruri.

"No. She cancelled out on me last minute because her family's shop needed someone to watch it while her mother went to a doctor's appointment. Haru can't run the shop by herself yet." Ruri wasn't too annoyed by the fact, as her friend had frantically apologised over the phone over and over until the point that she didn't really care anymore. She knew that Kosaki probably was looking forward to the outing just as much as Ruri or even more, so she didn't push the subject when the girl had informed her.

"Ah, I see. Same as me then." The statement caught Ruri's attention, and her emerald green eyes silently prompted for him to continue and Maiko elaborated, "Raku was supposed to come with me, but he had to cancel last minute also. I think it's actually because he wanted to hang out with Onodera-chan. Either that, or he had a date with Kirisaki-chan. Since I had already told my mom I was going out somewhere with a friend I didn't have any choice but to go because she's really...overprotective and pushy."

"I see." The conversation lapsed into silence as the old man nodded at Maiko when the boy whispered something that sounded like 'the usual, _jii-san_' and set down his bowl of ramen. Ruri cracked open the pair of wooden chopsticks provided to her and began to eat, and the two stayed silent: perfectly content with where they left off the conversation without any intention of resuming it as they ate.

"You know, this kind of feels like a date," Maiko said thoughtfully as Ruri nearly spit out her food as she whipped her head over so fast she could have gotten whiplash from her hair as she sputtered, "W-what?"

Regaining her composure, Ruri tried to salvage whatever was left of her dignity while Maiko gave her a knowing look. "Well, we're just friends. And that's already stretching it." Setting down her chopsticks, she raised her hand to catch the shopkeeper's attention as she craned her head to look at her companion. "Besides, I'm already finished."

"I am too." He set down his chopsticks and raised his hand, loudly declaring, "_Jii-san_, the tab for me and this wonderful young lady right here please?" Ruri almost, _almost_ blushed at the bold statement but covered her embarrassment with her typical stoic look as she gave him a look, raised eyebrows and all, that clearly spelled '_really?'_. He shrugged nonchalantly, a smile threatening to show on his lips as they twitched. "It's proper chivalry for a gentleman to pay for a lady after the meal."

"We're _not_ eating together Maiko."

"Keep believing that, Ruri-_chan_." His eyes glinted mischievously, his golden orbs resembling a cat's as they seemed to see right through her as he looked at her. That look sent chills down her spine, and Ruri was about to think that _hey, this wasn't too bad_ before immediately banishing the thought from her mind. This was _Maiko_, everything had some hidden meaning to it.

"You're strange." She finally spoke her mind, so many memories running through her head (painful smiles, fake laughs, tears…)

"You are too." (Eyes watching, always distant, never there.)

They both knew what the other was talking about and the conversation ended on a solemn note as Shuu set down the money for the meal. As Ruri opened her mouth to protested, he quickly hushed her and grabbed her hand, giving her a goofy grin he usually reserved for their group of friends. "Let's go play around for a while!"

"I'm supposed to be meeting Kosaki at the bakery…"

"Nonsense!" He pulled her out of the restaurant without much effort, pausing to move his white collar to the left a little before continuing to walk with her. "Where do you want to go? The arcade? The mall?" He started naming all kinds of stereotypical spots to hang out at before Ruri stopped him, pointing her finger a little grudgingly towards a certain spot. His eyes moved to look at where she was gesturing at as he nodded in understanding. "Ah, the City Park? Ruri-chan, you're so traditional~"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go," She grumbled, pulling him along as she refused to look at him. She had come here when she was little a lot, she reminisced as she looked up at the green canopy of leaves, the light behind it slowly fading as night was beginning to take over. "Maiko, follow me." She pulled him towards the left, following a narrow stone path and ignoring his slight whining as she followed her memories. She had to walk a few more steps, then get off the trail and move towards the right once she reached the river. She would follow the worn dirt path instead.

As they began walking through the near-forest, Maiko fell silent as he was content enough to follow the black-haired girl through the woods, both of their treads unfaltering as they continued to walk silently. Finally, Ruri stopped and couldn't help but smile. "Maiko, we need to go up there." There was a long staircase that lead to the top of the hill where there was a white stone pavillion and people up there, gazing in admiration at the sky. He did as he was told, but couldn't help but ask, "Is it worth it?" His honesty almost surprised Ruri, but strangely it didn't as her mouth twitched upwards into a strange smile.

"It is."

Ruri remembered the first time her father had brought her there. His scent, cloaked with cinnamon, guided her as his firm hands brought her through the forest and to the stairs that led to the marble pavillion that let them see the stars. The view had been breathtaking, and she hoped that things hadn't changed so much that it would be different now, when she was here standing side by side with Maiko.

They stalked up the stairs and entered the pavillion, and immediately they stopped talking as they gazed in admiration at the view. The stars were nearly out by this time, the faint glitter of their celestial light contrasting against the dark night sky. The moon was full, its soft light illuminating the night sky as the thousands of stars surrounding it twinkled in its light. Ruri knew that soon she would have to return before it grew too late, but she couldn't draw herself away from the view.

Finally, Maiko tugged on her arm with his left arm, and she realized with a jolt of shock that their hands had been intertwined the whole time and as she moved to untangle them before he stopped her. "Don't. Just...don't."

The forlorn...almost _defeated?_ look on his face looked so unknown to her that Ruri had completely stopped, and Maiko sighed and leaned his head against her back. "I'm...tired."

That statement managed to say so many things at once. She let him stay like that, and the next thing that came out of her mouth sounded more like a sigh. "I am too." They stood there for a moment before pulling back, bringing themselves back to reality. She was Ruri Miyamoto. He was Shuu Maiko. No matter what amount of weakness they might have displayed to the other, they were still..._them_, and that brief moment of relapse would be the last comfort in a long while.

Ruri turned around. "Let's go home."

* * *

**A/N: I'm...alive?**

**Hahaha, I bet you're all shocked that I'm still alive and updating.**

**Anyways, I'm sorry for the wait. The manga-chapter just didn't give me inspiration, and combined with the fact that my laptop died and I lost my files for my other stories, I was kind of in a no-updating mood for a while. But now I'm back in action, so yeah~ I'm also in a really important state-wide competition this week so I won't update during the weekend, but I will definitely not abandon this story. So...yeah.**

**This was sort of a sorry-about-the-wait present I concocted because I felt like exploring the pair's more… masked side they usually showed to their friends and how much more relaxed they were with each other. So...it kind of felt rushed, but I'm satisfied.**

**Thank you for all the reviews! It honestly gives me so much inspiration.**

**Until next time~**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Something short to wrap up the swimmer's arc. Enjoy. Double update. Hooray. I'm alive.**

* * *

Ruri moved quickly, seeing Haneko's falling figure as she darted towards her, moving downward and bending her ankle so she could catch her. She could hear the startled gasps of the crowd and felt heavily one certain glasses wearing classmate's gaze on her as years of accumulated training kept the blunt girl from wincing at the sudden pain.

Most likely a twisted ankle, she observed idly as she kept her face as apathetic as possible, lifting the fellow swimmer to her feet. A sharp sensation of pain hit Ruri for a second before the blunt girl pushed it away.

"You sure you're not getting too distracted by the cheers?" Ruri asked sardonically, her eyes meeting Haneko's as the sparkly eyed girl blinked before a smirk came over her rival's face.

"It's the duty of an athlete to answer to the cheers," Haneko replied, getting up and rubbing her sore arm as she rolled her shoulders, eyes searching for whoever threw the can of juice at her. "It seems I must express my gratitude to you."

"It wasn't really.." Ruri mumbled as she tested her leg out gingerly before barely managing not to flinch as another wave of pain hit her as soon as her foot touched the concrete. "Ugh!"

The woman's face changed ever so slightly as Haneko tilted her head confusedly, her eyes flashing with...concern? "Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing," Ruri dismissed briskly as she made sure not to limp as she headed back into the locker room, head still held high.

Haneko watched her rival walk away from her slowly, never noticing the other person who was watching Ruri as well.

* * *

Ruri was sitting in the Girl's Locker Room on one of the many generic wooden benches put specifically for the athletes. Her hair was still slightly damp, but she didn't really mind as she lifted her foot to examine it. There were scratches and it was starting to turn purple, and Ruri went over everything she knew about first aid in her mind as she sighed. "Jeez."

She leaned her head back, readjusting her glasses as she stared at the ceiling. She supposed she'd have to default out, and for some reason there was a pang in her chest at the thought.

_I originally did this for a hobby,_ Ruri reasoned to herself. _There's no reason to try so hard._

She was startled out of her thoughts by one high, distinctively female voice. "Huh? Ruri-chan?" Ruri turned around to see Kosaki standing in the doorway, staring at her friend cluelessly. "What are you doing here?" The black haired girl tilted her head confusedly at her friend, her warm amber eyes blinking.

"Kosaki…" Ruri tried but then her friend continued, beaming happily.

"Ruri-chan, do your best in the finals too! I'll be cheering _waaay_ louder this time!" Kosaki grinned, nearly sparkling as Ruri muttered a quiet, "I told you that you don't need to…"

Seeing Kosaki's pressing glance, Ruri elaborated as she turned away from her friend's face. "Swimming's just a hobby after all. It's not like I really want to go to the nationals. So even if you cheer me on..."

"I...I want to see you swimming at the nationals, though." Kosaki spoke up, and Ruri turned around just in time to see her friend give her a bright, supportive grin. "After all, you're really cool when you're swimming Ruri-chan! It's really hard for me not to cheer when I'm watching you."

In the background, the announcer announced the men's butterfly race and Kosaki turned around. "Ah, time to go! I'll be cheering for you!" Her friend exited.

The door closed, muffling the sounds of the audience's cheers as surely there were swimmers in the pool trying their absolute hardest to win. Ruri knew that it was about time for the women's freestyle to start after the next race, so somewhat reluctantly she stood up and made her way out to the entrance of the pool.

Ruri was walking down the hallway when she noticed a lone figure leaning against the side of the hallway, hands crossed relaxedly over his chest. "What are you doing here?" The question slipped out of her lips as she stopped walking. As if to somewhat deny the more neutral imposed question, a derogatory comment quickly came out of her mouth next. "You're in the way."

"Are you really going to compete with that leg of yours?" Maiko didn't meet her eyes as he simply smiled knowingly, and Ruri knew that nothing she tried to fake would really escape him.

She couldn't help the smile that found its way on her lips. "I have no choice. They're cheering for me, after all."

Maiko still looked unconvinced, but then the announcer came over the loudspeaker announcing the women's freestyle and Ruri gave him an acknowledging nod before walking out into the Sun, pulling her hair up into a bun and putting her swim cap over that. She grabbed her goggles out of her bag and slipped them over her eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she heard her friends' cheers over the rest of the audience.

She would win this.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi...yeah, I'm still alive. Just FYI there was a double update so the chapter before this one wrapped up chapter 102's swimming race stuff and is ****new material****. I apologize for my absence.**

**I do not own Nisekoi.**

* * *

It was summer break, and all Shuu could think was that he was _completely bored._ Usually at this time of the day he would be teasing Raku about Kosaki-chan, or laughing at his friend's misery while the black haired boy got beat up and played around by the rest of the girls.

He rolled over on the right side of the bed, getting up and running a hurried hand through his messy sandy brown hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Shuu could see the flyer advertising the local fireworks festival and let out an exasperated sigh. He rolled back over again, trying to sleep as it was the only pastime he could really do during the Summer before his eyes darted back towards where the flyer was.

Shuu slowly stood up and made his way over to the phone, dialing a number he knew all too well as he waited for the person to pick up. After a few moments of silence, someone picked up.

"_Hello? Ryu of the Shuei Clan here."_

"Ah, Ryu-san," Shuu said pleasantly, grabbing his glasses from the case that was resting on the tabletop as he put them on, readjusting them as he smiled. "Can you put Raku on the receiver for me?"

There was a few moments of hushed silence save the slight rustle of movement before Shuu could hear Ryu calling Raku ('_Bocchan?_ Maiko-kun is calling you.').

"_Hello? Shuu?"_

"Raku!" Shuu beamed. "Summer's been boring, so why don't we invite the whole gang to the fireworks festival?"

"_Eh? Sure. The Gorilla and I were already planning on going anyways."_

"Sure. So invite Onodera-chan and her sister for me, and I'll get Ruri-chan! Tachibana-chan and Seishiro-chan are probably already going to follow you and Kirisaki-chan, am I right?"

"_Aa."_

Raku hung up, and Shuu did the same as he sat down on his bed, tapping his chin thoughtfully with his finger as he hummed a tune under his breath. "Ruri-chan, eh?"

* * *

"I still don't understand why I have to come here with _you_, Maiko." Ruri grumbled under her breath as she tugged at the edge of her autumn-leaf printed _yukata._ She had put her hair up into a bun instead of opting for her usual ponytail, and the sudden exposure of her neck left her feeling sort of unguarded.

"Because it happens that we live closer to each other than Kirisaki-chan and Raku do to us, and because we somehow met up at the same time," Shuu replied absentmindedly. "Quite a coincidence, don't you think Ruri-chan?"

"Sure…" Ruri grumbled, her face contorting into a frown as she turned away from her classmate. They were standing under the glowing yellow lanterns that hung in a line, illuminating the whole festival with a gentle golden light. There was movement all around them as people hurried around, heading into booths or buying something to eat. All sorts of sounds and aromas were around her, and the air was crisp and sweet but not at all cold as was expected of a Summer's night.

Ruri brushed a stray strand of black hair out of her eyes as she glanced up at the steadily darkening sky. She couldn't help the words that spilled out of her mouth as she addressed her companion without looking at his face. "Why'd you invite all of us anyways?"

"Because it was so _booring_ Ruri-chan without seeing your lovely face!" Shuu exclaimed, throwing his hands out dramatically in front of her as if asking her for an embrace.

"..." Ruri did not deem the statement important enough to give him a reply, turning away as her eyes brightened, recognizing some of the approaching figures.

"Yo! Ruri-chan! Maiko-kun!" Chitoge waved, her ever present red ribbon bobbing up and down as the blonde haired girl stopped to readjust her bun. She ran up to them, face flushed a bright pink as Raku trailed behind her. "Ruri-chan, you look really pretty!"

"Thanks," Ruri accepted the compliment graciously, observing the girl's cherry blossom patterned _yukata_. "You do too."

"Now, Beansprout!" Chitoge turned to her boyfriend demandingly, fire in her baby blue eyes as she crossed her hands over her chest firmly. "You're going to get us some food."

"Eh? But why me?" Raku's protests were cut off by the ribbon wearing woman as she held a finger up towards him to keep him silent.

"Festivals are all about the food, Beansprout! You need to learn how to enjoy the moment, you know? It's not everywhere when we can just stuff ourselves with yakisoba like this," Chitoge said passionately, her eyes sparkling at the thought of food as her boyfriend sighed, completely whipped defeated by Chitoge's persistance.

"Okay." Raku sighed defeatedly.

"I'll come with him," Shuu volunteered as he smirked at Ruri, the light from the lanterns bouncing off his glasses and leaving his eyes hidden by a mysterious shine. "Don't disappear while I'm gone, okay?"

"Sure." Ruri kept a completely straight face as the two boys walked away, leaving her with Chitoge. Her blonde haired friend was jumping up and down, looking giddy from excitement.

"Won't this be so much fun?"

"I guess."

"Don't you think it'll be awesome?"

"I suppose."

"Are you looking forward to the fireworks?" Chitoge questioned, tilting her head to the side as she awaited her companion's response.

"They're okay, I guess."

"Hey, Ruri-chan, how close are you to Maiko-kun?" Chitoge asked suddenly, leaning closer to the black haired girl as Ruri blinked, slightly taken aback whether it be from the sheer bluntness of the question or the content of the question itself.

"...we're not that close," Ruri concluded, her tone with a hint of finality in it as her gaze shifted towards where Shuu and Raku disappeared to.

"Yet you're the only one who he calls by your first name?" Chitoge suggested innocently, and Ruri turned her gaze to the girl who was at the moment cackling very evilly. Despite her looks, Chitoge Kirisaki was someone to be feared, and no one would stop her whenever she saw the potential of her friend being in a relationship.

"It's just to annoy me." Ruri deadpanned with certainty.

"Maybe he's asking for your attention?"

"I doubt that. We're just classmates."

"_Juust_ classmates?" Chitoge pressed, her blue eyes sparkling as she leaned even closer to Ruri as Ruri nearly took a step back.

"Yes." Her eyes catching notice of a nearby booth, Ruri quickly changed the subject. "I'm going to get some dango really quickly. Stay here, alright?"

"Okay." Chitoge pouted, her chance gone as she walked her friend walk away.

"Bye." Ruri waved as she hurried to the dango stand, feeling her classmate's heavy gaze on her specifically as she turned to the man in charge of the stand. "Four sticks of Mitarashi Dango, please." She ordered politely, trying to rid her mind of all sorts of thoughts pervading in it.

Meanwhile, a certain blonde girl was still trying to figure out the conversation that had just occurred. "_Just_ classmates?" Chitoge muttered skeptically as she watched the glasses wearing girl walk away. "Yeah right."

* * *

They had all returned to Chitoge, Ruri munching on a stick of dango while aptly dodging Shuu's attempts at taking a bite at one of her extra sticks. She handed one to Chitoge, who nodded a thank you and shot the black haired girl a bright smile, and one to Raku who gave her a surprised look before murmuring a thanks.

"How cruel, Ruri-chan." Shuu pouted. Chitoge nudged her friend slightly and reluctantly Ruri gave her last stick to the brown haired boy, who took it with a goofy smile on his face. "Thanks!"

Ruri blinked in faint surprise, ignoring the glasses wearing boy's pout at being ignored, as she recognized her best friend. "Kosaki?"

"Ah, Ruri-chan!" Kosaki brightened, smiling warmly. "You look really pretty."

Her friend suddenly reddened as Ruri saw Raku approach the scene. "Huh? Onodera? And Haru-chan too."

Both Onoderas blushed at the teenager's voice, although Ruri did note that Haru hid the reaction fairly quickly. The younger sister was always better at concealing her affection for Raku, although that wasn't surprising considering how obvious Kosaki's crush was.

Kosaki and Chitoge began talking about the _yukata_ her black haired friend was wearing, Kosaki mentioning it was 'just a cheap rental from the marketplace'. Chitoge unknowingly latched onto Raku. "Woow! I should've gotten mine there too! Hey, isn't it really cute? Isn't it really cute?"

Raku blushed, the shade of red reaching all the way to his ears as he tried to deny how lovestruck he was at the sight of his crush in a _yukata._ Ruri blinked and looked between Chitoge and Kosaki and moved a few steps back, adamant to not be a part of the forming love triangle.

Her attention was caught by Shuu's comment.

"I wonder if we're gonna be able to see it this year. The firework."

"Are you talking about the 'binding firework'?" Ruri asked, her mind reviewing her knowledge of the festival's folklore. She had read up about it just a few days prior to the festival out of curiosity. It was an interesting tale, even if Ruri didn't believe it.

Both Kosaki and Raku looked clueless. "What's that?"

"Don't you know? Every year at the fireworks show, there's a legendary firework that goes up just once, without any specific timing. They say if a man and a woman see that together, they'll be bounded together." Shuu grinned happily, adjusting his glasses as he bounced up and down.

"You sure like these things," Raku said suspiciously as most of the girls looked at Raku thoughtfully. Ruri resisted the urge to pinch her nose in exasperation.

Shuu turned to all the girls, asking pitifully, "Does anyone want to see it with me this yeaaaar? Come on, now."

Ruri intently stared at her feet.

Just then, Marika nearly tackled Raku over, demanding for the black haired boy to watch the firework with her in the specially prepared loveseat she made her minions prepare for just them. After the boy successfully got out of the red haired girl's embrace, he stood next to Shuu and whispered something to him.

Ruri watched curiously as he called out to Kosaki. "Hey, Onodera!" He walked over to her, getting so close that her friend was steadily turning into a tomato. "Make sure to watch Haru-chan carefully, alright? She has no sense of direction."

Ruri didn't question why the boy knew that.

"Ah, I know," Kosaki replied as Haru stalked up to them.

"Your concern isn't needed, senpai. I'm in high school already, I won't get lost." The girl was on a roll, and Ruri couldn't withhold the small smirk that came over her face as Haru continued. "And please stop calling onee-chan 'Onodera', I'm 'Onodera' too. It'll be confusing if you call her that."

It dawned on Raku's face of what was about to come, but he still swallowed nervously and asked, "Then...what do I call her?"

"Why don't you call her by her first name?"

Ruri mentally applauded Haru's ingenuity and watched as her friend and Raku started blushing and making a fool out of themselves before she felt a tap on her shoulder. Ruri turned around to see Shuu smiling idiotically.

"It seems as if Raku and the girls want to be alone, so shall we try some takoyaki?"

"Only if I get some squid," Ruri replied, rolling her eyes slightly as she nodded at him. "Let's go." The two departed, the lively group barely missing their leave. The only person who seemed to notice the two go off together was Chitoge, who gave Ruri a sly wink before turning around and talking to Raku.

Shuu gave Ruri a confused look as he watched his companion's face contort into a surprised look before she frowned, refusing to look at him. "Come on, Maiko, let's go."

..._girls_.

* * *

**A/N: Gaaah! I really messed up on this chapter. I had already wrote half of it when I realized the girl that was with Shuu, Raku, and Chitoge was Tsugumi not Ruri. But I really didn't want to change it, so I ended up pretending that it was and sort of made up some stuff.**

**...shhh, I bet none of you noticed till I pointed it out. (hoping very hard)**

**On another note, mwahaha I'm back (?). I wouldn't abandon this story unless I suddenly fell off the face of the Earth, lol. But on another note Nisekoi's been dragging and killing my inspiration. Someone tell me when there's a new Ruri/Shuu chapter or some development because I'm going to kill myself in a corner.**

**Thank you so much for all of your support. Every single one of your reviews makes me happy, and I'm grateful for all of the favorites/follows/reads as well~**

**Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Ruuuuri-_chan_~" Shuu sang happily, skipping up to the black haired girl as Ruri simply sighed and flipped the page of her book, ignoring her overenthusiastic classmate. "Guess what tomorrow is?"

"Sunday," she deadpanned.

As two of the top academic students in Bonyari High School, both Ruri and Shuu went to the same cram school every weekend for nearly the entire day. It was a wonder that they could wake up on Monday morning and still go to school, but both Ruri and Shuu managed it. Sadly, despite Ruri's reluctance, she and Shuu had soon became study partners for nearly everything, as they didn't know many other people who went to the same cram school they did.

Shuu looked simply aghast that his companion wasn't giving him the response he wanted. "It's _Valentine's Day_, Miyamoto-hime. The day when girls can finally confess their undying love to their loved one through chocolate, the day guys look forward to most in the year!" An aura of sparkliness and flowers seemed to surround the brown haired boy before he was crushed by a simple, apathetic response.

"Ah. Is that so?" Ruri shrugged. "I guess Kosaki will be busy at the sweets shop then."

"Ruuuuri," Shuu whined, leaning closer to her as he nearly clung to her neck. "Aren't you going to get me chocolate?"

"Do you _want_ chocolate?" Ruri raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You're already as fat as you are."

"So cruel~" Shuu spun around, staring off in the distance as he proclaimed, "I, Shuu Maiko, look forward to Valentine's Day more than any boy, yet my darling Miyamoto-hime won't even give her study partner a _giri _chocolate? How cruel…"

"I'm sure that one of those girls in your Newspaper club will give you a _honmei _chocolate," Ruri pointed out. She had observed that Shuu's newspaper club mainly contained female underclassmen, many with a crush on Shuu. The part that didn't have romantic feelings for their enthusiastic _sempai _cheered on Shuu to 'win over Miyamoto-_sempai'_.

It was strange, but they were still under the misconception that Ruri and Shuu were...involved. Ruri had wanted to bury herself in a hole when the girls came up to her and congratulated her on her nonexistant relationship. What kind of lies was Maiko feeding them?

"Yeah, but I want Ruri-chan's chocolate!" Shuu pouted.

"Sure, sure, Maiko." As an afterthought, Ruri added, "I'll get something from Kosaki's family shop later. At least it'll help with their business."

"_No!_" Shuu's vehement demand made Ruri look up and arch an eyebrow. "You need to make it yourself," he explained patiently, adjusting his glasses as he talked in a tone that one usually spoke to a preschooler in. "Or it has no meaning."

"Eh."

The response made the boy sulk, and Ruri rolled her eyes before standing up. "School's over. See you tomorrow, Maiko." The girl began walking away, bag slung across her shoulders, before a single name made her stop.  
"Shuu."

"Eh?" Ruri tilted her head as she turned around, her blue eyes meeting his amber.

"Call me Shuu," he elaborated, crossing his hands over his chest. "You always say 'Maiko this', 'Maiko that'. Just call me Shuu. Like Raku does."

"None of the other girls call you that," Ruri pointed out, ever diligent in finding the flaws in other people's logic. "People will assume things again. Just like the last time you called me 'Miyamoto-hime' in front of our _kouhais. _We haven't known each other as long as you and Raku have."

"Well, then, you're special." Shuu gave her a goofy grin, although there seemed to be a flash of some emotion (was that _embarrassment?_) in his eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "As a fellow Glasses Buddy," he amended quickly, and Ruri released the breath that she didn't even realize she was holding.

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow." She began to walk away, and there was just the tiniest nagging sensation in her head as she quietly added, "Shuu."

By the small chuckle that resounded behind her, Ruri could conclude the boy probably heard. Face burning, Ruri walked away quickly with large steps, trying to salvage whatever was left of her pride.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, there's several things I want to say.**

**First of all, this is not a discontinued notice, nor a hiatus notice. I'm sorry for not updating sooner. However, as you guys have probably seen, Nisekoi's been licensed, and so it's really hard for me to find the manga chapters to write for. Ugh. If anyone knows a website with all the chapters still up, please tell me.**

**I can not believe you people. I don't know how you still find this story, but yeah. I love you all. Seriously. Every single review brings a smile to my face, just to know that someone took the time to write something for me. And thank you to all of the followers/favorite-ers/readers as well. I still notice every addition.**

**Regarding Ruri and Shuu fanfiction, as at the moment I can't really write much of Glasses Buddies until I find a manga source, _I am making another story for Ruri and Shuu._**** It's a partial thank you to all of you, as well as an actual other story.**

**It is a journal. From Ruri's perspective. Short entries, but hopefully entertaining. Main pairing is, of course, Ruri/Shuu. I'm going to be publishing that first chapter sometime this week.**

**Happy (early) Valentine's Day to those that celebrate it, and hope to see you all again soon. ;)**

**Until next time!**


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